SO WHAT’S new when a massive number of local politicians taking an oath as members of the new ruling party, PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan)? Nothing.
It’s every politician’s instinct for survival. Only this time, it is unique, especially in a time where talks of changing the Constitution in favor of federalism is abound, and likely it can happen within this current administration.
In Cagayan de Oro City, Mayor Oscar Moreno and the new majority of the City Council allied to him have joined PDP Laban officially, and it may have implications when it comes to his governance, issues, and friends to help him.
Since severing ties with the former mayor Vicente Emano and his local political party, Padayon Pilipino, Moreno allied himself in the once ruling national party in 2013, the Liberal Party (LP), which led him to his success and virtually dismantling Emano’s clout in Cagayan de Oro City, except in Misamis Oriental province (where his son is now the governor).
Moreno won again in 2016, for his second term as mayor, but in the national scale, LP has lost its luster as PDP Laban and Rodrigo Duterte won the national electorate.
Last Saturday, Moreno and other politicians in Misamis Oriental took the oath as new members of PDP Laban, the massive membership of the party comes in to a no surprise, as weeks prior to this, thousands joined the bandwagon on other provinces in Visayas and Southern Luzon.
Since Moreno became the mayor, he has never been overwhelmed with issues hurled against him. His first term as mayor, he was almost immobile as the city council was still under Emano’s influence.
His second term, he has faced quite a number of corruption charges and the Ombudsman already issued orders of suspension against him and his officials.
Thanks to the Temporary Restraining Orders issued by the Court of Appeals, he survived, and keeps on surviving until those cases were heard in the higher courts, hoping to overturn the Ombudsman’s decision. What is funny is how local political convictions and fanaticism are placed in these new-found alliances.
Now political detractors of Moreno see this change of party allegiance as a way to get out of Ombudsman’s mess. But more to these political detractors, they are finding themselves in a ridiculous position, because they aligned themselves, and claimed to be, supporters of the Duterte administration and PDP Laban.
And back then, it was convenient for them to oppose whatever Moreno makes because he was still part of LP. This can be a hard pill to swallow for them. Also a hard pill to swallow is for those Moreno supporters and allies who have been with him because he was part of LP.
Some even got jobs inside the city hall because of his allegiance with LP, and some defended him against these detractors because defending him was tantamount in defending LP and at the same time, denouncing PDP Laban and the Duterte administration. This is indeed, an entertaining circus to watch from afar.
Until then, we have yet to see the consequences and the benefits of this whole political bandwagon.
(nefluczon@gmail.com)